Sarah's Spotlight - Vilt A LaKim

I've decided to take a break from talking about myself! I plan to offer my Spotlight feature on a regular basis, hopefully weekly, to showcase all the great artists on Etsy! It's truly amazing to see all the different types of artwork and creativity produced by artisans and crafters worldwide!

My first spotlight freatures Vilt A La Kim.
You can visit Kim's shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/viltalakim. Kim uses the wet felt technique to make her items. She provides a great overview of the this technique and also offers a website for those who wish to learn more about it: http://www.gfwsheep.com/felting/felt.html.

As a knitter, I am familiar with felting wool and presumed Kim meant this technique when she referred to wet felting. I was fascinated to learn about the wet felting process and realized how different it is than the felting process with which I am familiar. Kim says it can take 3-4 hours to fully felt an object! That's dedication!

I first stumbled upon Kim's shop when looking for items for a treasury. I instantly fell in love with all the great items she has to offer. Of course, I had to add her to my favorites, and I was surprised to hear back from her saying I was her 400th fan! She sent me a surprise as a thank you. Today I received felted soap. I was a little dubious at first, but Kim had attached a note saying to use it just like real soap. My little felted soap produced some great suds, and my hands are nice and clean typing up this blog! Needless to say, I was certainly impressed - by both receiving a thank you and by the felted soap itself!

The pictures posted here are only a small sample of Kim's lovely artwork. She has given a link to her Flickr page in her profile: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16449646@N06/sets/72157616439337206/.

Be sure to stop by Vilt A La Kim to check our this great store!

A Finished Product!

Finally! My first dog sweater is for sale in my shop. You can visit my store at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35423480 Can't you just imagine a little pooch walking around with a touch of sparkle? I didn't plan a holiday sweater, but this is just perfect for the season! This was my least favorite dog sweater of the patterns I have because the picture in the pattern isn't that great. But the finished product is adorable!

It was tempting to try it out for size on poor Pheoda. Given that she's been a little under the weather, it seemed unusually cruel to ask that of her, much less ask her to pose for pictures for my Etsy page! But how cute would that be? That little black part of my soul still wants to give it a try. That darn cat never scratches nor bites, so there is a fair chance of success. I can feel her shooting me mean glances just at the thought of this. Plus, what dog would want to wear a sweater once donned by a cat though?

Here are some pictures of the sweater - I love showing it off because it's so adorable! It really might be one of my favorite items I have knit thus far! And I'm almost finished with dog sweater #2 with a custom order already in for my aunt's dog, Sally. Finally, some real measurements instead of guessing! I suppose if I'm going to have a new obsession, knit dog sweaters isn't too bad a choice!

I'm such a knitting addict!

What to do on a day off from work? Enjoy day-before-Thanksgiving sales to buy more yarn! That's in addition to the yarn I ordered online last week for some new baby sweaters. And I keep complaining that there's no room in my closet for any more yarn. I know have 15 new skeins and three more on the way! To be fair, three skeins are for a requested baby blanket, but the others are poor impulse control when the sign says sale!! Oh help!

To help everyone prepare for the holiday season, I am offering free shipping in my store beginning Friday, 11/27 through 8:00am (eastern time) on Tuesday, 12/1. Be sure to take advantage of this great sale at http://YardByYardKnits.etsy.com.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Or should I say, how many tries does it take to get past row 10 of a new pattern! Don't you love those patterns that just work so easily? And then there are the ones that don't... After starting a new dog sweater (no measurements needed, yea!!) my ribbing was not working. Something so simple caused such headaches! Sigh... knit, unravel, knit, unravel.... how tiring! I think I'm currently on attempt #8, although I lost count after 4 or 5. I feel like I could be done the project in the time it's taken me to finally get going on it! I'm quite happy now with the way it looks and can't wait to see the finished product.

On my trip to Petco this morning to get some measurements for my other sweater, I did see an adorable snowflake capelet for cats. How tempting for little Pheoda, but I think her bandana will have to suffice. Once her fur grows back, she needs nothing else to keep her warm, as evidenced by her "before" picture! But back to the dogs... Happily, I noticed no strange looks in my direction as I pulled out my ruler and pen to take my measurements. We'll see how helpful they are once this current sweater is done. Too many patterns to try, and only so much time in the day to knit! If only my paying job didn't take up so much time!

It's a doggone world

As I mentioned last time, I really want to enter the world of dog sweaters. I very stupidly started a pattern last week that I thought I had read through completely. You just know this isn't going to end well...

I was very happily knitting, so impressed with myself because I love this sweater! Then my pattern directed me "to work in the established pattern until the piece measures 1" less than the length of your dog from neck to tail." Later I was directed to measure around the belly to add a belt and fit around the neck. Hmm... how will my dear feline friend help me with that? I must admit that little Pheoda does wear (and tolerate!) a bandana at times, especially after her semi-annual shavings. Doesn't help here.

My weekend may consist of shopping around the Petco while secretly (or not so secretly) measuring their dog sweaters! I'm also open to measurements if anyone has already measured a dog so I have some guidelines to get started. Who knew this would be so difficult? :)

Where to start?

Welcome! I can talk about knitting all day long, but where to start? I love to knit and am really excited about my Etsy online shop, Yard By Yard Knits (http://YardByYardKnits.etsy.com). I just participated in my first craft fair last week and am hoping to do more in the spring or summer.

What inspires me? Textures, colors, shapes, intricate patterns. If you visit my shop, you will notice that I use a many different yarns and lean towards soft, textured yarns. Perhaps it's my wool allergy. While I can knit with wool, I still have memories (nightmares?) of hives breaking out on my face after laying on a wool rug many years ago!

What do I like to knit? Just about anything! I love making things for other people and have only kept one scarf for myself! Baby items are probably my favorite. I've realized recently that I really love sophisticated, vintage-style baby clothes and have a ton of sweater patterns on my list to try.

I'm also starting to work on some dog sweaters! I am 100% a cat person, but my kitty keeps herself fairly toasty without needing a sweater - and these dog sweaters are too cute to pass up. Unfortunately, my cat doesn't provide me with good measurements for my dog sweaters, so it's a little slower going than I had hoped.

So many things to try and only so much time in the day to knit! It's quite the addiction I have to admit! I think other knitters will agree!